Chapter 13 - 'Top of the World Ma'
2008 was an interesting year. That year we did some demo's at the Senie Show, for those not in the know a very big yearly affair that takes place at venues like EXCEL and attract thousands of martial artist's and non martial artist's. A video of us is still on Youtube.
But it was also the year we went back to the States. This time we stayed in Virginia and visited Hon Lee and Reza's club several times as well as being taken out by them and their students on various day trips. We then all attended the US open in Baltimore. And guess what!? I did it again fourth place, OK but I did place third in another event too.
Unfortunately Ed could not make the trip so I was left to my own devices when it came to the competition. Still I did come away with a medal and so did the other guys.
Competition wise we now had a bit of a lull and just did not train for anything for two years. Just as well really as during this time my health went down the pan in more ways than one.
While at work one day I felt a little off. This turned in to a big off and I more or less collapsed. I managed to convince my sergeant that I could drive home, but by the time I got there I was almost out at the wheel. Trish rushed me to a medical centre and they in turn called an ambulance when they found my blood sugar had dropped off to just 2.1 milligrams (apparently most people would have been in a coma by then).
Extensive tests followed over the next few years and varying conditions considered and then ruled out. They thought I may have diabetes, then pancreatic cancer and several other things. To this day they still have no idea what is wrong, but it did knock me back a bit, as did the spin offs from the tests and other conditions that also arose at the same time.
It transpired that I had a mild ectopic heart beat, or in other words my heart skipped the occasional beat (funny because in most other ways it was more than fine and I had a heart beat that stayed as lower as fifty beats or so a minute). And I was suffering from an inherited cholesterol condition which saw my bad cholesterolcount at 11 ( the safe range being under five), the doctor immediately put me on tablets and told me the happy news that I would be on them for the rest of my life.
On top of all this I was getting a bad pain in my left knee so, again after tests, it turned out I had arthritis in both knees and hips probably caused by aikido and ju jutsu. Later tests would also show I had it in one of my elbows as well, which did explain why I could no longer straighten it fully. Many of the problems were due to injuries and all the tests and x-rays revealed that I had several undiagnosed fractures, which had healed without me even knowing the bone was broken. They included a break to my ankle, two in my arm and one in my hand.
OK so here it comes. Even after all those years training and meditating etc etc, it still hit me for six. And I still needed to talk to a councillor. See even big brave martial artist’s can crack.
I should mention that since our discipleship ceremony we had had several in’s and out’s. Out went Spencer, always odd and just got odder to the point where he grew a long beard and buggered off never to be seen again. Dong also seemed to loose interest and faded in to the background and Wen Ting went off to work in the Far East, which, was a shame. And although not a disciple the departure of Andy Hall for Australia was a big blow for many of us, especially Ed and myself who were quite close to him.
In came Adam Lynch who Sifu also accepted as a disciple as did Andy Lee another disciple. And a little later Sifu would also take on Andy Denney and his wife Shu and lastly Errol Armstrong.
Should also probably mention at this point that my sons Joshua and Luke had also taken up Mizong as well. In Joshua’s case with some reluctance but Luke had taken to it like a duck to water. Both reached black belt but in Luke’s case he also entered and medalled at several competitions including winning the National Championship for his age group.
Anyway I got back to training, albeit a little subdued and a bit more careful than before. Then in 2010 Sifu decided he was taking us to China for the 10th Grand Wu Shu World Fair in Shanghai. This is basically the World Championships for Wu Shu. Again for those not in the know Wu Shu is a modern derivative of kung fu. It is much more flowery and far less practical but does involve some exciting and sometimes very athletic routines. And the championship also had a traditional kung fu element and it was that part of the competition we were interested in.
Prior to going out to China I was invited to talk on BBC Essex by Xante Bearman. It was a good chance to talk about kung fu and get our name out there and I was on air for about 15 minutes.
The trip to Shanghai was not all about the competition. It was also a trip home to see family for Sifu and Simu and a chance for us to see the sights and also meet some of Sifu’s old students.
The competition came right at the beginning of our two week stay in China. And once again I think we surprised a few people! Once again Ed was unable to make the trip but I entered two competitions in the senior division and came away with a World Championship gold medal for a form with the daedo and a silver medal for my demonstration of Xing-i. Luke also won two silver medals in his age group. The other guys did just as well winning individual and team medals in several categories and we were unofficially voted the best team by the judges. BUT, we are talking China here so there had to be a down and that was we were not allowed to pick up our medals at the event. While everyone else (who was Chinese) got to stand there and be awarded their medals, we got ours from Sifu who in turn had been handed them by the judges. It was a shame because it was one of the few down points of the trip.
One thing that did come across was the high esteem Sifu was held in by his peers. And this was reinforced when we went to the park for a training session with his old pupils.
We arrived to a big banner welcoming the brothers and sisters (that’s us) from the UK. We were expecting just to join in the training but it ended up with everyone doing demonstrations and half the park watching us. But it was great knowing that this is where Sifu and his father had both trained. And it was important enough for the Chinese Government to declare the area a national heritage site with it’s own plaque.
The rest of the trip was mainly taken up with site seeing including visits to a Buddhist temple and various museums and heritage sites. There was a fair amount of drinking and eating, although Chinese food in China bares little resemblance to Chinese food in the UK, a fact that was pointed out by my wife Trisha and my eldest Joshua several times.
We returned to the UK with the knowledge that we had done just about everything that could be done for Sifu and for the Zhen Wei Academy and the UK. But like so many activities not many people ever found out. So we were to a great extent unsung heroes.
